Moonlight Prints (434)
Moon-lit scenes (tsuki) and lunar compositions in Japanese woodblock prints. Moonlight prints use dramatic tonal contrasts to evoke atmosphere, from full moons over castle towers to crescent moons reflected in still water.
Artists Known for Moonlight
Girl watching the stars and waning moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Girl watching the stars and waning moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Diptych of an interior, with a girl looking at the moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Mt Fuji under the moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Full moon over Kiyomizudera in spring
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
The full moon at Uji Bridge
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Composition with moon and butterflies
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Autumn moon over Uji river (Kyoto)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Dog and the Moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Hazy moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Autumn moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Tree under the moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Full moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Moon over Chidori castle
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Full Moon on the fifteenth Night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Los Angeles midday moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Three-day spring moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Autumn moon over Ishiyama temple
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Moonlit landscape
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Bright flowers (Full moon and weeping cherry tree in Maruyama park)
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Full moon and weeping cherry tree in Maruyama park
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
The moon at Umagome
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Osaka castle ruins by moonlight
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Matsumoto Castle by moonlight
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Long-lasting evening moon
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Mt. Fuji in a moonlit night
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
Moon crossing bridge
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
A Mirror on a Stand Suggesting the Autumnal Moon (Kyodai no shugetsu), from the series "Eight Scenes of the Parlor (Zashiki hakkei)"
c. 1777
Color woodblock print; chuban
Woman with a Fan by Moonlight
1900-1925
color woodblock print (kuchi-e) with silver powder on paper
Gekka no rafu (Nude under the Moon)
月下の裸婦
c. 1882-1886
Oil on canvas
Half Moon
半月
1926
Ink on paper
Torii Gate in a Moonlit Night
c. 1950s
Color woodblock print
New Moon (Futsuka zuki)
二日月
1907
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Tanuki with Autumn Moon
秋月狸図
1873
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Beauty and the Moon
Autumn Moon at Atago Hill (Atago shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views of Edo (Edo hakkei)"
c. 1804/18
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Moon over Sumida River (Sumida aki zuki), from the series "Eight Views of the Sumida River (Sumidagawa hakkei)"
early 1760s
Color woodblock print; hosoban, mizu-e
Autumn Moon at Ishiyama (Ishiyama no aki no tsuki), No. 8 from the series "Eight Views of Omi"
c. 1716/36
Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
Man in Thatched Hut Viewing the Moon
c. 1740s
Woodblock print; hosoban, sumizuri-e
Flowers, from the series "Snow, Moon, and Flowers of the Floating World (Ukiyo setsugekka)"
c. 1784/85
Color woodblock print; oban
Bridge post and crescent moon
n.d.
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Woman on the bridge watching the moon
1831
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Moonlit Evening
月夜
1913
Hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
Moon
Moon landscape
The Actor Nakamura Noshio I as the Third Princess (Nyosan no Miya) in the Play Fuki Kaete Tsuki mo Yoshiwara (Rethatched Roof: The Moon also Shines Over the Yoshiwara Pleasure District), Perfromed at the Morita Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1771
c. 1771
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Moon at Enoshima Beach — 月夜の江の嶋
Young Couple with Infant Son on a Moonlit Night
c. 1770
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Hares Playing in Surf on a Moonlit Night
c. 1771
Color woodblock print; chuban
The Autumn Moon at Tokaiji (Tokaiji no shugetsu), from the series "Eight Fashionable Views of the Shinagawa (Furyu Shinagawa hakkei)"
c. 1773/75
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
The Actors Sawamura Kijuro I as Ikazuchi Shinno, Prince of Thunder (far left), Ichikawa Danjuro V as the Buddhist Deity Fudo (second from left), Nakamura Sukegoro II as Seitaka Doji (second from right), and Bando Mitsugoro I as Kongara Doji (far right), in the Play Fuki Kaete Tsuki mo Yoshiwara (Rethatched Roof: The Moon also Shines Over the Yoshiwara Pleasure District), Performed at the Morita Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1771
c. 1771/72
Color woodblock print; from the illustrated book Yakusha Kuni no Hana (Prominent Actors of Japan)
Autumn Moon at Ishiyama (Ishiyama no shūgetsu), from the series Eight Views of Lake Biwa (ōmi hakkei)
Late Edo period, circa 1800-1802
Ukiyo-e woodblock print in the "chūban" format; ink and color on paper
Watching the Moon
The Autumn Moon in the Mirror (Kyodai no shugetsu), from the series "Eight Views of the Parlor (Zashiki hakkei)"
c. 1766
Color woodblock print; chuban
Moonlit Night in Nakasu
中洲月夜の図
1878
Oil on canvas
Landscape with the Moon
19th century
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya, (kamuro:) Shirabe, Teriha, Flowers from the series Snow, Moon and Flowers in Yoshiwara (Seiro setsugekka) (Tamaya uchi Hanamurasaki, Shirabe, Teriha)
1793
Color woodblock print; oban
Monkey Reaching for Moon
The Rising Moon — 月の出
Couple Standing on a Pier Embracing on a Moonlit Night
c. 1774
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Moon-lit scenes (tsuki) and lunar compositions in Japanese woodblock prints. Moonlight prints use dramatic tonal contrasts to evoke atmosphere, from full moons over castle towers to crescent moons reflected in still water.
Utagawa Hiroshige, Kawase Hasui, and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi are among the artists most associated with moonlight in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 434 prints tagged with moonlight, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.